Man draws life sentence in slaying

Kim Smith

Friday, Dec. 8, 2000 | 10:41 a.m.

A Las Vegas man who claims he accidentally killed a man and then tried to give him CPR was sentenced to life in prison Thursday.

Robert Mello, 27, will have to serve at least 10 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole in the April death of Daniel Nichols, 38.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli told District Judge Joseph Bonaventure that Mello and two other people beat, strangled and suffocated Nichols before putting him in a trash bin on April 21.

The three people then vacuumed Nichols' body to get rid of any evidence, Lalli said.

Finally, in the "ultimate act of defilement," the suspects wrote epitaphs on Nichols' chest in gang-style writing hoping to throw the police off, Lalli said.

Bonaventure could have chosen to give Mello 25 years in prison, but Lalli told him "you have a duty to protect society from the Robert Mellos of the world and that can be accomplished by a life sentence."

Deputy Special Public Defender Daren Richards told Bonaventure that Mello and Nichols crossed paths because of Nichols' addiction to drugs and Mello's association with "bad people."

Mello tried to intimidate Nichols for two of his friends, who were upset that Nichols had stolen from them.

After realizing that he had accidentally suffocated Nichols, Richards said Mello tried to give him CPR. When that failed, the other two took over.

Mello has no criminal history and has accepted responsibility for his actions, Richards said as almost a half-dozen of Mello's relatives watched.

Bonaventure told Mello that if it hadn't been for his attorney doing such a good job, he could easily see Mello getting a no-parole life sentence at trial.

In addition to the 10-to-life sentence, Bonaventure also gave Mello a sentence of three years to 7 1/2 years in the kidnapping of Mello's former girlfriend four months after Nichols' death.

That sentence is to be served after the murder sentence.

The other defendants in the murder case, Terry Alison Peters and Samuel Ralph Wilson, are awaiting trial.